T1 is a widely used standard in telecommunications in North America and Japan that transmits voice and data between devices. A T1 line is made up of twenty-four 8-bit channels and runs at a 1.544 Mbit/sec line rate. Furthermore, T1 lines use Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) to send signals over each channel of the T1 line.
It is known that T1 boards must be tested before being used commercially. To test a T1 board, users insert a test device (hereinafter referred to as a “turnaround plug”) into each jack receptacle of the T1 board. One plug is used to test each jack receptacle, which carries a T1 line. During the testing process, an original signal is generated by software in the T1 board and is sent to a jack receptacle in the board. The jack receptacle sends the signal over a particular channel of the T1 line, which is, in turn, received by the turnaround plug. The turnaround plug returns a signal. If the original signal and the return signal are identical, then the T1 channel is functional. However, if the original signal and the return signal are different, then the user knows that there is a hardware problem in that particular T1 channel.
A standard T1 board contains five T1 lines per board, and up to seven T1 boards can be inserted into a chassis for testing. To test each T1 line, a turnaround plug must be inserted into each jack receptacle and then removed at the end of testing. Therefore, to test a chassis filled with seven T1 boards, with each board having five jack receptacles, thirty-five turnaround plugs must be inserted and removed. This process is tedious and time consuming.
T1 lines require physical connections so the channels of the T1 boards must be tested for continuity. Therefore, no true workaround to make the testing process easier and faster has been discovered. It would be preferable if there was a method of testing a T1 board that enhanced productivity and made the testing process easier and faster.